The short response would be that he’s a well-intentioned idiot. The long answer is a little more complicated. He’s one of those people who, when you first meet them, tends to inspire irritation and rage. He makes bad puns out of Asian characters names, asks South Africans why they’re white, and insists that all his sisters’ boyfriends are terrorists. Most people get fed up pretty quickly and don’t see anything further than that. However, underneath the stupidity and immaturity, he’s actually a genuinely good person. He loves his friends and family to pieces, but would even risk his life to help a total stranger. He also is capable of being insightful, usually after 20-questioning the other person until he figures it out.

He tries to be responsible, and succeeds when it comes to the important things, but finds that being immature is just way too much fun for the most part. He used to care what people thought of him, but since a lot of his relationships start out with fighting and name-calling, he has since decided that it’s so much less stressful to just not give a damn.

Speaking of relationships, he’s not that great with those either. It takes him a long time to realize that he likes someone, and longer to get up the nerve to act on it. And he’s absolutely terrified of the l-word.

Relationships:

-Has sort of a “who’s really the parent here?” relationship with America because he’s generally the more mature one between the two of them.

-Considers himself the older brother of all the American states/cities, even though he’s actually younger than a lot of them.

-Tends to get along well with most Canadians and Brits.

-Hates Russians on principal.

History:

He was born in 1790 when DC was founded as the nation’s capital. At age 5 he nearly burned to death during the War of 1812, but survived and was rebuilt even better, though the whole thing took a while to get over.

DC was founded in what was then considered the south, and so did have a population of slaves, which were freed nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation. Since then, it has been a major center of the civil rights movement, and has a very ethnically diverse population.

Daniel represents the city both as the center of the federal government, but also as a district of the average people who live there. The two sides don’t always agree. Ironically, the residents of the district actually have only very limited self-government, with only one non-voting rep in the House of Representatives and a shadow senator. The citizens weren’t even able to vote in presidential elections until 1964.

Fun facts:

-(Almost) Never smokes or drinks, and gets on the case of anyone who does. He’ll take your beer and pour it down the sink if you’re not 21, even if you’re from a place where the drinking age is lower.

-Is super creeped out when Americans and/or Canadians interdate. He doesn’t really care about incest in the rest of the world, just this continent.

-He’s a horrible singer, but loves it anyway and sings classic rock songs really loudly and off-key when he thinks he’s alone.

-He’s desperate to protect the people he cares about, and so has learned quite a bit of first aid. He’s no doctor, but if you had to be stuck somewhere, injured and alone with one other person, he’d be the one you’d want to be stuck with.

-He has epilepsy, which is a contributing factor to why he’s quite literally the worst driver ever. Seriously, never get in a car with this guy. The nonchalant recklessness and unjustified road rage are overwhelming.